Abia no longer affected by national grid collapse — Gov Otti
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has announced that the state is now insulated from the frequent collapses of Nigeria’s national grid. Speaking at the Government House in Umuahia on Thursday, January 29, the Governor revealed that recent strategic investments in renewable energy have successfully decoupled the state’s power supply from the national system.
The cornerstone of this energy shift is a new waste-to-wealth initiative that converts organic refuse into biogas for electricity generation. “This is a pilot programme. Instead of throwing away waste, we can turn it into clean energy, and we will be able to power a lot of places, particularly the Umuhaia in-farms,” Otti explained.
In a landmark regulatory move, the state has also officially asserted its autonomy over its local power market. As of December 24, 2025, the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority (ASERA) took over full oversight from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). This allows the state to manage its own generation, transmission, and distribution without federal interference.
To facilitate this transition, the state government has successfully negotiated the acquisition of power assets from the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC). “I had reported earlier that our offers to EEDC have been accepted, and we are in the process of raising the funds to pay off EEDC,” the Governor noted, highlighting the collaborative effort to stabilize the local grid.
The Governor pointed out that while much of Nigeria suffered through the two national grid collapses recorded already in January 2026, Abia remained largely unaffected. He attributed this stability to the state’s growing independent power assets and the “ring-fencing” of Umuahia, which mirrors the successful independent power model already operating in Aba.
“The whole idea is to ensure regulation of efficiency and independence in the state, just like the Aba Power provides power for the Aba in-farms,” Otti stated. By localizing control, the administration aims to eliminate the systemic failures that have historically plagued the national energy infrastructure.
Governor Otti expressed confidence in the long-term sustainability of the project, noting that the state is making significant progress in its journey toward total energy self-sufficiency. “I am sure you would have been aware that some of the disasters (national grid collapses) that happened recently, our state was not affected, because a whole part of our power assets is within our authority,” he concluded.
